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Saskatchewan holds on to defeat Montreal

Aug 17, 2014 - 2:47 AM Regina, SK (SportsNetwork.com) - The Saskatchewan Roughriders recovered a fumble on a failed hook-and-lateral attempt as time expired, and held on to beat the Montreal Alouettes, 16-11, at Mosaic Stadium Saturday night.

Roughriders quarterback Darian Durant completed a 30-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the fourth quarter to receiver Rob Bagg for the first major of the game, which proved to be the winning margin for Saskatchewan (5-2) as the team jumped ahead, 12-4.

Durant finished the contest 19-of-30 passing for 221 yards and a touchdown, which went to Bagg early in the fourth. Bagg led all receivers in the game with 90 receiving yards on six catches.

Montreal (1-6) cut the lead to just one point, 12-11, late in the fourth when receiver Duron Carter returned a Chris Milo missed field goal into a 120-yard return for a touchdown.

Alouettes quarterback Alex Brink tried to lead his team in a comeback effort on the road, but was sacked on third down with 1:40 left to play and Montreal trailing by two points, 13-11. The Roughriders sealed the win with a Milo 32- yard field goal in the final minute.

Brink, who has taken over for Troy Smith as Montreal's starting quarterback, struggled at times on Saturday, completing 19-of-31 passing for 187 yards and an interception. He did lead the team in rushing with three carries for 32 yards, including a long of 17.

The first-half theme was back-and-forth scoring. Punter Josh Bartel put the Roughriders on the board in the first quarter with a single, which was answered just 43 seconds into the second period by Montreal's Sean Whyte.

Milo booted a 30-yard field goal with 9:31 left to play in the half to give Saskatchewan a 4-1 advantage. But Whyte made sure the Roughriders wouldn't go into the half with the lead, as he connected on a 45-yard try with 5:43 left to close out the scoring in the quarter.

Again, it was Saskatchewan that went slightly ahead after a Bartel single put the Roughriders up 5-4 just 2:57 into the second half. It appeared Saskatchewan finally found the end zone when Brink was picked off by Macho Harris, who returned it 62 yards to the end zone midway through the third. But Alouettes coach Tom Higgins challenged a defensive pass interference non-call, and the turnover and score were subsequently reversed. But Brink was intercepted on the very next play by Tristan Jackson.

Defensive lineman John Chick added three more sacks to his league-leading total, and has now recorded six total sacks in the past two weeks for Saskatchewan.